spring and autumn officials

"Six sleeps for the Son of Heaven, one sleeps for the road, and five sleeps for the small ones."

The Road Sleeping Hall is located at the southernmost end of the Zhou Palace, behind the Road Gate, in the Yan Dynasty, 21 feet long from north to south, 27 feet long from east to west, and a height of three feet six feet.

After a night of torrential rain, the Lu palace was quietly shrouded in the haze and humidity after the rain. After the thunder and lightning, the sky did not clear up, but became more gloomy. It was like a giant curtain falling from the sky, brewing something...

The chariot of Tianguanzhongzai, who was appointed by King Ping of Zhou before, slowly stopped in front of Yanchao. haste and panic.

The Taizai of the current dynasty was the ninth grandson of Zhou Gongdan, who was named Heijian after inheriting a famous family.Dazai Heijian was thirty years old, and he was already a high official in the Zhou royal family. Simply put, he was the ruler of the Zhou royal family. He was in charge of all the government affairs of the Zhou royal family.

Coincidentally, the only Zhou emperor who was taller than Dazai's black shoulders passed away yesterday...

The gloomy light casts on Dazai's black-shouldered face, and his fair skin contrasts sharply with the black official robe.For Dazai, the image of pale hair and shambling steps seems to have taken root in people's hearts, while Dazai with black shoulders is much younger than imagined, and the years seem to dare not make mistakes in his face, with a straight and handsome face, fair skin, a pair of The hanging eyes are slightly narrow and long, revealing the infinite shrewdness of politicians.Tall and tall, with a four-finger wide jade belt across the waist, setting off the tall and slender waist, revealing the elegance of a literati all over her body.

Dazai walked up the steps of the Tianzi Road bedroom with black shoulders. After the rain, the head of the Pan Chi Owl was washed clear and bright. Dazai pushed the head away with his white palm. "Boom—" the door of the palace opened, and Dazai slowly step in.

There are six rooms in the road sleeping hall, and the ether room is the most noble. At this moment, the light in the noble room is dim, and there is a strong smell of herbs.

A young man was lying on the couch in the Taishi. Even if he was lying down, it could be seen that the man was tall, and he should be around 20 years old, or even younger, which was the age of a newborn calf.

His handsome face reveals fortitude, his nose bridge is high, slightly aquiline, but it doesn't look too sharp, everything is just right.His face was upright, his eyebrows were slightly tightened, and they were condensed together, maybe it was because of the struggle with the illness.

Dazai Heijian glanced lightly at the young man on the couch, and said lightly, "How is the new king's condition?"

It turns out that the young man on the couch is actually the eldest grandson of King Zhou Ping, the former Prince Lin, and now the Emperor Zhou who has just ascended the throne!

The previous king passed away yesterday, there was a vision in the sky, and he kept his heart. Before the new king could take the throne, he suddenly fainted and fell ill.

In the darkness, a man stood beside the sickbed, his face was a little worried, but not worried about the new emperor's condition, his voice was very low, and he said softly like a thief: "Dazai... this... is this really possible? As long as my nephew If I don't wake up, you will support me as the new king?"

Dazai's eyes were still light and light, as if he didn't take these things seriously, his delicate face was slowly plated with a layer of arrogance, and he said with a smile: "The prince is the second son of the previous king, and also the orthodox of my royal family, why do you feel sorry for yourself? When the former prince died, the former king wanted to make you the prince, but because you were indecisive and kept making decisions, the former king sent you to Zheng Guo as a hostage, and missed the great opportunity to become the prince! Now the opportunity is here In front of the prince, Zheng Gong has already made an alliance with his blood. He is willing to make an oath with us and elect the prince as the new king. What is the prince afraid of? So it is that Wang Zilin is the eldest grandson, but he is just a young boy, what about the foundation of our Zhou royal family? Can it fall into the hands of a scorpion?"

Dazai Heijian's voice was clear, like a knife piercing the opponent's heart, then he said faintly: "When your good nephew, Wang Zilin, dies, you will be the new king. At this moment of life and death, Are you still thinking about the blood relatives of your uncles and nephews? If you still can’t make up your mind, the world will miss you! A prince will always be a prince, and he will never become the son of heaven until he dies. ..."

In the darkness, the indecisive man stared closely at his young nephew Wang Zilin on the couch, his voice suddenly became hoarse, as if he had finally calmed down, and he only said one word in a rough voice: "Kill!"

……

In the dining room, the servants and slaves heard Qi Lv's eight words "it's not difficult, but it's okay to do it", they were so frightened that their legs limp, they almost staggered and fell to the ground, crying repeatedly.

"Henren! This... can't be accepted!"

"How to do this?"

"If you can't do it, you're dead!"

Ji Xiaojunzi was surprised at first, he was born from a noble family with a golden spoon in his mouth, what kind of delicacies from mountains and seas have he never tasted?He boasted that his vision was broad, and these slaves and petty officials could not compare in the same way. The question raised by the little gentleman was definitely an unsolvable problem.

However, this is the case, a mere petty official stood up to refute himself.

Little gentleman Ji sneered, and said: "Can you do it? Well, I will convince you to lose, but let me tell you the truth, if you can't cook it, or the dishes you cook, you can't be praised by this gentleman." Appreciation is a death penalty!"

When the servants and slaves heard this, their faces turned pale. It's easy to say whether they can do it or not. They don't need the shape of rice, and they can make one or two things by racking their brains. Even more difficult!

The mouth is on Ji Xiaojunzi, he doesn't want to praise, can others threaten him?

This bet is an unsolvable bet, Qi Lv has already fallen into a disadvantage, and he can't win, but he is just taking his own humiliation.

Unexpectedly, Qi Lv was not worried at all, but instead smiled faintly, still that kind of "disgusting" confident smile, Ji Xiaojun didn't understand, he is a mere official, what can he be confident about?

Qi Lu said lightly: "Since the gentleman is so sure, he will die if he manages the food, and he will die if he ignores the food. Why don't you wait a moment? But we will see."

"Okay, okay!" The little gentleman Ji agreed with a sneer, and said, "I will tell you to live for a while! After a while, you will know that there is a price to be paid for this short time of living!"

He said that's all, and the thugs walked out of the dining room and went outside to wait.

"How can this be good?"

"The Heng people angered the little gentleman! We all have to follow to die!"

"The villain doesn't want to die! Doesn't want to die—"

The slaves cried together, but Qi Lv turned a deaf ear to it. Once he encountered something like cooking, he would be in a state of being deaf to what was going on outside the window, and nothing would disturb him.

Qi Lu's stature is slender but tall and straight. He stood between the kitchen and the kitchen, looked around, and roughly scanned the entire dining room. He already had a solid idea of ​​the kitchen utensils and ingredients.

Qi Lu moved quickly, and reached out to grab the rice that Ji Xiaojun asked for. The rice flowed gently in the palm of his hand, like white gravel.

The slave next to him wiped his tears and cried, "Mr. Heng, you didn't cook before, so you don't know anything. This rice looks like old stuff, not a new stuff. The pure boiled rice cooked with this kind of rice, There is no sweet taste at all, it is dry and has no aftertaste!"

Chunzhuo rice is actually equivalent to the modern rice bowl. The ancients first fried the meat, and then poured juice on the rice or millet, and it became Chunbo rice.

Qi Lu smiled and said, "Old rice is just right."

When he said this, the others were overheard, and stared at Qi Lu dumbfounded. Although he didn't say it, his expression was already vivid, as if he was saying that Hengren might be stunned, and he might be whipped into an idiot by the little gentleman. Son, otherwise who would say such nonsense about aged rice?But anyone who has ever made rice or made a fire knows that old rice is not good to eat.

Ignoring the surprised eyes of the slaves, Qi Lu picked up the rice and began to wash the rice. He moved very nimbly, and he looked like an old hand. He washed the rice and took some water to soak the rice.

The slaves stuck their hands in place, not knowing what to do, so they heard Qi Lu say, "Is there a stone mill?"

"Stone mill, what is that?"

Only then did Qi Lu suddenly realize that, yes, there seems to be no such thing as a stone mill in this era. The stone mill only appeared in the Han Dynasty, but there is already a similar thing in this era, it should be called...

Qi Lv changed his words and said, "Grinding the 硙."

"Yes, yes, yes!" The slave nodded, leading Qi Lu to look at Nianlong, and said, "This is it!"

After preparing the grinder, Qi Lu was very leisurely. After waiting for a while, he looked around randomly, opening a bronze bean here and a bronze bean there.

In this era, the food utensils are quite different from modern ones. Dou is a bowl with round feet and a round mouth, and it is easy to understand that it is a box with a lid.

Qi Lv searched for a while and opened a bronze lock. Before he could see what it was, a sour and salty smell wafted into his breath, causing him to cover his mouth and nose, almost coughing. He fixed his eyes and took a look. , It was originally pickled bamboo shoots.

Speaking of pickled vegetables, pickled vegetables in the Spring and Autumn Period were not too much. Because there was no refrigerator to keep them fresh, the nobles began to develop pickled vegetables in order to ensure a variety of dishes. Mirage, beef louver, marinated pork shoulder, pickled big clam, marinated beef louver, etc.

When the slave saw Qi Lu open the lid, he hurriedly said: "Mr. Heng, this is marinated. It's already bitter and can't be eaten. The little people are about to throw it away."

Qi Lu immediately said: "Why throw it away, it's just right."

Just right?See you again!

The slaves looked at each other, wondering if the seasoning was wrong when the bamboo shoots were marinated, so when the jar was opened, the taste was sour and bitter. You don't need to taste it to know that it must not be eaten, but Qi Lu said it was just right, Wouldn't it be disrespectful for him to use such pickled bitter bamboo shoots to feed the little gentleman, and he would lose his head!

However, they didn't know that in Qi Lu's eyes, this was just right.

The failed product of the slaves was the authentic sour bamboo shoots marinated by mistake. At this time, there was no seasoning such as vinegar. In fact, there was also a "substitute", which was called bitter wine. In their eyes, because of the sour taste There is no "purification", so it is slightly bitter. The sour bamboo shoots are too pungent and slightly bitter, so they become bitter bamboo shoots that failed to be pickled.

Qi Lv took out these "bitter bamboo shoots" and rinsed them with clean water to wash off the pungent sour and bitter taste on the surface. Soon the true colors of the sour bamboo shoots were finally revealed.

Just now Qi Lv was thinking, "I have never seen the world", but deliberately making things difficult for the little gentleman who wants to eat rice, but he can't see the shape of the rice. Or steam or boil, make rice noodles!

Rice noodles do not have the appearance of rice, but have the fragrance and sweetness of rice.And to make this rice noodle, the old rice is the most important thing. If it is new rice, the rice noodles made are easy to break. The old rice is different, silky and elastic, with distinct roots, isn’t it just right?

Qi Lu dares to vouch for such things as rice noodles. The little gentleman has never eaten it before. When he has the idea of ​​making rice noodles, what kind of rice noodles should he make? Woolen cloth?

When he saw "Bitter Bamboo Shoots", Qi Lv showed that "unfathomable" smile again. Sure enough, "If you don't believe in the king and watch the game of chess, the winner or loser depends on the end of the game." This unsolvable bet, The banker who thought he was going to win was afraid that he would lose all his money.

The final winner... must be Qi Lu.